Published:
March
5, 2013Burnham
could receive 'community benefit' from Hinkley development

Burnham-On-Sea
could receive more community benefits as a result of the construction
of Hinkley Point C power station under proposals unveiled this
week.

An
influential House of Commons Committee, which has heard evidence
from Sedgemoor District Council, has endorsed the use of community
benefits as a way to build trust among those living near proposed
nuclear facilities.

A report published by MPs on the Energy and Climate Change Committee
has recommended that community benefits should be extended to
new nuclear power projects. At
present, Community Benefits are only available to renewable energy
projects.

The Committee also called on the Government to consider whether
it could be possible to provide any additional forms of benefit
during the construction period given the considerable disruption
to local communities.

Councillor Duncan McGinty, leader of Sedgemoor District Council,
said he welcomed the reports conclusions.

"Sedgemoor
has championed Community Benefit Contributions as an important
mechanism to ensure the communities around Hinkley Point receive
fair and reasonable benefits in recognition of the burden of hosting
nationally beneficial energy infrastructure," he told Burnham-On-Sea.com.

"We very much welcome this Parliamentary endorsement for
community benefit. We really valued it when MPs on the Energy
and Climate Change Committee came down in November last year to
visit the Hinkley site and the local communities that will be
impacted by the development."

"I
think they appreciated that the construction phase of new nuclear
is when the impact is most felt. As the Committee points out,
there needs to be a mechanism to do what the planning system cannot,
by addressing the long-term, significant physical and psychological
effect on the quality of life of the host community."

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